There are Muslim polemicists who claim that the Quran correctly indicates that the moon’s light is borrowed and reflected, unlike the light of the sun which is not derived from an outside source. Some of the verses that these Muhammadans appeal to include the following:
Blessed is He Who made constellations in the skies, and placed
therein a Lamp
(siraajan) and a Moon giving light (muniiraa); S. 25:61
And made the moon a light (Arabic- nuuran) in their
midst, and made
the sun as a (Glorious) Lamp (Siraajaa)? S. 71:16
According to these Islamic propagandists, the term used for
moonlight in Arabic is munir or nur, and often means
reflected or borrowed light. Accordingly, these terms are never used to refer
to the light of the sun, referred to in the above passages as a Lamp. The Quran
is therefore allegedly indicating that whereas the moon’s light is borrowed the
sun produces its very own light.
The problem with this rather blatantly dishonest explanation is
that the Quran actually uses the very term munir to describe the light produced
by a lamp. For instance, the following passage speaks of Muhammad as a Lamp
giving forth light:
And as one who invites to Allah’s (Grace) by His leave, and as a Lamp spreading Light (wa Siraajam-Muniiraa). S. 33:46
Seeing that the sun itself is described as a Lamp, and seeing
that the light produced by the Lamp is called muniiraa/light demonstrates the
Muslims’ total arbitrariness in assuming that the terms nur and munir mean
reflected light. That these words are used to describe the very light produced
by a Lamp, and seeing that the Quran calls the sun a Lamp, shows that the the
Islamic scripture makes no distinction between the light that emanates from
either the moon or the sun. This is further confirmed by renowned Muslim
scholar and expositor Ibn Kathir’s commentary on Q. 33:46:
<and as a lamp spreading light.> means,
‘the Message that you bring is as clear
as the sun shining brightly, and no one can deny it except
those who are stubborn.’ (Tafsir
Ibn Kathir – Abridged Volume 7 Surat An-Nur to Surat Al Ahzab, Verse 50,
abridged under a group of scholars under the supervision of Shaykh Safiur
Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri [Darussalam Publishers & Distributors Riyadh,
Houston, New York, London, Lahore, July 2000], p. 716 http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1841;
bold emphasis ours)
Hence, Muhammad is likened to a sun shining brightly. This implies
that Muhammad’s munir/light is
the same as the light produced by the sun. Therefore, the assertion that munir and nur means
borrowed or reflected light cannot be sustained since the sunlight is likened
to Muhammad’s own munir/light.
Thirdly, nur is
applied to Allah in connection to his own light:
Fain would they extinguish God’s light (nura) with their
mouths, but God will not allow but that His light (nurahu) should be
perfected, even though the Unbelievers may detest (it). S. 9:32 Y. Ali; cf.
24:35
This means, that if these Muhammadans are correct, then Allah
has no light of his own, but only reflects light from another source or entity!
Anyone can see from this how nonsensical this argument truly is.
In this next passage,
Praise be to Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth, and made the Darkness and the
Light (an-Nur). Yet those who
reject Faith hold (others) as equal with their Guardian Lord. S. 6:101
The Light that is mentioned would obviously refer to all the
heavenly objects that bring forth light, such as the stars and sun. As Ibn
Kathir noted:
Allah praises and glorifies His Most Honorable Self for creating
the heavens and the earth, as a dwelling for His servants, and for making the
darkness and the light to benefit them in the night AND THE DAY. In
this Ayah,
Allah described the darkness in the plural, Zulumat [where Zulmah is
singular for darkness], while
describing the light in the singular, An-Nur, because An-Nur is more honored…
(Tafsir Ibn
Kathir-Abridged Volume 3 Surat An-Nisa, Verse 148 to the end of Surat Al-An’am,
p. 310 http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1023;
bold and capital emphasis ours)
The only nur produced
in the daytime is the light from the sun!
In fact, when we look at the earliest Muslim records we discover
that Muhammad and his followers believed that the moon, much like the sun,
emanated its own light. They did not believe that the moon simply reflected the
light emanating from the sun. Al-Tabari quotes a tradition from Muhammad on the
authority of Ibn ‘Abbas where the former extensively comments on the orbit of
the sun and moon. The following lengthy quotation is taken from the History of al-Tabari, Volume 1- General Introduction and
from the Creation to the Flood (translated by Franz Rosenthal,
State University of New York Press [SUNY], Albany, NY 1989), pp. 231-237. Bold
and/or capital emphasis will be mine:
Among the traditions transmitted from the Messenger of God on
this subject is what I have been told by Muhammad b. Abi Mansur al-Amuli-
Khalaf b. Wasil- Abu Nu’aym `Umar b. Subh al-Balkhi- Muqatil b. Hayyan- `Abd
al-Rahman b. Abza- Abu Dharr al-Ghifari: I walked hand in hand with the Prophet
around evening when the sun was about to set. We did not stop looking at it
until it had set. He continued. I asked the Messenger of God: Where does it
set? He
replied: It sets in the heaven and is then raised from heaven to heaven until
it is raised to the highest, seventh heaven. Eventually, when it is underneath
the Throne, it falls down and prostrates itself, and the angels who are in
charge of it prostrate themselves together with it. The sun then says: My Lord,
whence do You command me to rise, from where I set or from where I rise? He
continued. This
is (meant by) God’s word: “And the sun: It runs to a place where it is to
reside (at night)” – where it is held underneath the Throne – “That is decreed
by One Mighty and Knowing” — by “this” is meant the
procedure of the “mighty” Lord in His royal authority, the Lord Who is
“knowing” about His creation. He continued. Gabriel brings to the sun a garment
of luminosity from the light of the Throne, according to the measure of the
hours of the day. It is longer in the summer and shorter in the winter, and of
intermediate length in autumn and spring. He continued. The sun puts on that garment, as
one of you here puts on his garment. Then, it is set free to roam in
the air of heaven until it rises whence it does. The Prophet
said: It is as if it had been held for three nights. Then it will not be
covered with luminosity and will be commanded to rise from where it sets. This
is (meant by) God: “When the sun shall be rolled up.” He continued. The same course is followed by the
moon in its rising, its running on the horizon of the heaven, its setting, its
rising to the highest, seventh heaven, its being held underneath the Throne,
its prostration, and its asking for permission. But Gabriel
brings it a garment from the light of the Footstool. He continued. This is (meant by) God’s word: “He
made the sun a luminosity and the moon a light.” Abu Dharr
concluded: Then I went away together with the Messenger of God and we prayed
the evening prayer. This
report from the Messenger of God indicated that the only difference between the
condition of the sun and that of the moon is that the luminosity of the sun
comes from the wrap of the luminosity of the Throne with which the sun was
covered, while the light of the moon comes from a wrap of the light of the
Footstool with which the moon was covered.
The other report, referring to a different concept, is what I
was told by Muhammad b. Abi Mansur- Khalaf b. Wasil- Abu Nu’aym- Muqatil b.
Hayyan- Ikrimah: One day when Ibn `Abbas was sitting (at home or in the
mosque), a man came to him and said: Ibn `Abbas, I heard Ka’b, the Rabbi, tell
a marvelous story about the sun and the moon. He continued. Ibn `Abbas who had
been reclining sat up and asked what it was. The man said: He suggested that on
the Day of Resurrection, the sun and the moon will be brought as if they were
two hamstrung oxen, and flung into Hell. `Ikrimah continued. Ibn `Abbas became
contorted with anger and exclaimed three times: Ka’b is lying! Ka’b is lying!
Ka’b is lying! This is something Jewish he wants to inject into Islam. God is
too majestic and noble to mete out punishment where there is obedience to Him.
Have you not heard God’s word: “And He subjected to you the sun and the moon,
being constant” — referring to their constant obedience. How would He punish
two servants that are praised for constant obedience? May God curse that rabbi
and his rabbinate! How insolent is he toward God and what a tremendous
fabrication has he told about those two servants that are obedient to God! He
continued. Then he said several times: We return to God. He took a little piece
of wood from the ground and started to hit the ground with it. He did that for
some time, then lifting his head he threw away the little piece of wood and
said: You want
me to tell you what I heard the Messenger of God say about the sun and the moon
and the beginning of their creation and how things went with them? We
said: We would, indeed, May God show mercy unto you. He said: When the Messenger of God was
asked about that, he
replied: When God was done with His creation and only Adam
remained to be created, He
created two suns from the light of His Throne. His
foreknowledge told Him that He would leave here one sun, so He created it as
(large as) this world is from east to west. His foreknowledge also told Him
that He would efface it and change it to a moon; so the moon is smaller in size
than the sun. But both are seen as small because of the sun’s altitude and
remoteness from the earth.
He continued: If
God had left the two suns as He created them in the beginning,
night would not have been distinguishable from day. A hired man then would not
know until when he should labor and when he should receive his wages. A person
fasting would not know until when he must fast. A woman would not know how to
reckon the period of her impurity. The Muslims would not know the time of the
pilgrimage. Debtors would not know when their debts become due. People in
general would not know when to work for a livelihood and when to stop for
resting their bodies. The Lord was too concerned with His servants and too
merciful to them (to do such a thing). He thus sent Gabriel to drag his wing
three times over the
face of the moon, which at the time was a sun. He effaced its
luminosity and
left the light in it. This is (meant by) God’s word: “And We have made the
night and the day two signs. We have blotted out the sign of the night, and We
have made the sign of the day something to see by.” He
continued. The
blackness you can see as lines on the moon is a trace of the blotting.
God then created for the sun a chariot with 360 handholds from the luminosity
of the light of the Throne and entrusted 360 of the angels inhabiting the lower
heaven with the sun and its chariot, each of them gripping one of those
handholds. He
entrusted 360 of the angels inhabiting (the lower?) heaven with the moon and
its chariot, each of them gripping one of those handholds.
Then he said: For the sun and the moon, He created easts and wests (positions
to rise and set) on the two sides of the earth and the two rims of heaven, 180
springs in the west of black clay – this is (meant by) God’s word: “He found it
setting in a muddy spring,” meaning by “muddy (hami’ah)” black clay – and 180 springs in
the east likewise of black clay, bubbling and boiling like a pot when it boiled
furiously. He continued. Every day and night, the sun has a
new place where it rises and a new place where it sets. The
interval between them from beginning to end is longest for the day in summer
and shortest in winter. This is (meant by) God’s word: “The Lord of the two
easts and the Lord of the two wests,” meaning the last (position) of the sun
here and the last there. He omitted the positions in the east and the west (for
the rising and setting of the sun) in between them. Then He referred to east
and west in the plural, saying; “(By) the Lord of the easts and wests.” He
mentioned the number of all those springs (as above).
He continued. God
created an ocean three farsakhs (18 kilometers) removed from
heaven. Waves contained, it stands in the air by the command of God. No drop of
it is spilled. All the oceans are motionless, but that ocean flows at the rate
of the speed of an arrow. It is set free to move in the air evenly, as if it
were a rope stretched out in the area between east and west. The sun, the moon,
and the retrograde stars run in its deep swell. This is (meant by) God’s word:
“Each swims in a sphere.” “The sphere” is the circulation
of the chariot in the deep swell of that ocean. By Him Who holds the soul of
Muhammad in His hand! If the sun were to emerge from that ocean, it would burn
everything on earth, including even rocks and stones, and if the moon were to
emerge from it, it would afflict (by its heat) the inhabitants of the earth to
such and extent that they would worship gods other than God.
The exception would be those of God’s friends whom He would want to keep free
from sin.
Ibn `Abbas said that `Ali b. Abi Talib said to the Messenger of
God: You are like my father and my mother! You have mentioned the
course of the retrograde stars (al-khunnas)
by which God swears in the Qur’an, together with the sun and the moon, and the
rest. Now, what are al-khunnas?
The Prophet replied: `Ali, they are five stars: Jupiter (al-birjis), Saturn (zuhal), Mercury (`utarid), Mars (bahram), and Venus (al-zuhrah). These five stars rise and run like
the sun and the moon and race with them together. All the other
stars are suspended from heaven as lamps are from mosques, and circulate
together with heaven praising and sanctifying God with prayer. The Prophet then
said: If you wish to have this made clear, look to the circulation of the
sphere alternately here and there. It
is the circulation of heaven and the circulation of all the stars together with
it except those five. Their circulation today is what you see,
and that is their prayer. Their circulation to the Day of Resurrection is as
quick as the circulation of a mill because of the dangers and tremors of the
Day of resurrection. This is (meant by) God’s word: “On a day when the heaven
sways to and fro and the mountains move. Woe on that day unto those who declare
false (the Prophet’s divine message).”
He continued. When
the sun rises, it rises upon its chariot from one of those springs accompanied
by 360 angels with outspread wings. They draw it along the
sphere, praising and sanctifying God with prayer, according to the extent of
the hours of night and the hours of day, be it night or day. When God wishes to
test the sun and the moon, showing His servants a sign and thereby asking them
to stop disobeying Him and to start to obey, the sun tumbles from the chariot
and falls into the deep of that ocean, which is the sphere.
When God wants to increase the significance of the sign and frighten His
servants severely, all of the sun falls, and nothing of it remains upon the
chariot. That
is a total eclipse of the sun, when the day darkens and the stars come out.
When God wants to make a partial sign, half or a third or two-thirds of it fall
into the water, while the rest remains upon the chariot, this being a partial eclipse.
It is a misfortune for the sun or for the moon. It frightens His servants and
constitutes a request from the Lord (for them to repent). However this may
be, the angels
entrusted with the chariot of the sun divide into two groups, one that goes to
the sun and pulls it toward the chariot, and another that goes to the chariot
and pulls it toward the sun, while at the same time they keep it steady in the
sphere, praising and sanctifying God with prayer, according to
the extent of the hours of day or the hours of night, be it night or day,
summer or winter, autumn or spring between summer and winter, lest the length
of night and day be increased in any way. God has given them knowledge of that
by inspiration and also the power for it. The gradual emergence of the sun or the moon from the
deep of that ocean covering them which you observe after an eclipse (is
accomplished by) all the angels together who, after having brought out all of
it, carry it (back) and put it upon the chariot. They praise
God that He gave them the power to do that. They grip the handholds of the
chariot and draw it in the sphere, praising and sanctifying God with
prayer. Finally,
they bring the sun to the west. Having done so; they put it into the spring there,
and the sun falls from the horizon of the sphere into the spring.
Tabari continues to comment about the role the sun and moon will
play at the end of the world:
When this takes place, the sun will be held underneath the
Throne for one night. Whenever it prostrates itself and asks for permission (to
proceed to) whence it should rise, it
is given no answer until the moon joins it and prostrates itself together with
the sun and asks for permission (to proceed to) whence it shall rise. The moon,
too, is not given an answer. Finally, (the angel?) will hold the sun for three
nights and the moon for two nights… (Ibid., p. 239)
Ibn Kathir also indicates that the moon has its very own light:
<and the sun and the moon.> the
sun with its own light and its own path and orbit and allotted time, and the moon which shines with a
different light and travels on a different path and has its own allotted time.”
(Tafsir Ibn Kathir-
Abridged Volume 6 Surat Al-Isra’, Verse 39 to the end of Surat Al Mu’minun,
p. 444 http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2645;
bold emphasis ours)
<And We have made (therein) a shining lamp> (78:13). <and a moon giving light.> means,
shining and illuminated by
the light of something else, different from the light of the sun…”
(Tafsir Ibn Kathir:
Abriged Volume 7 Surat An-Nur to Surat Al-Ahzab, Verse 50, pp.
193-194 http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2384;
bold emphasis ours)
Furthermore, Ibn Kathir much like Tabari claims that the Quran
teaches that both the sun and moon are orbiting, yet with one added twist. Ibn
Kathir states that the earth is not orbiting, but rather remains in a fixed
position!
<And has subjected the sun and the moon, each running its
course for a term appointed;> It was said that this
means, each runs within its limits, or it means until the Day of Resurrection;
both meanings are correct. The first view is supported by the Hadith of Abu
Dharr in the Two Sahihs,
according to which the Messenger of Allah said…
O Abu Dharr! Do you know where this sun goes? I
(Abu Dharr) said: “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said…
It goes and prostrates beneath the Throne, then it seeks
permission from its Lord, and soon it will be said: “Go back from whence you
came.”
Ibn Hatim recorded that Ibn ‘Abbas said, “The sun is like
flowing water, running
its course in the sky during the day. When it sets, it travels its course
BENEATH THE EARTH until it rises in the east.” He said, “The same is true in the case of
the moon.” Its chain of narration is Sahih. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir,
Volume 7, pp. 593-594 http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1784;
bold and capital emphasis ours)
This leaves us with the impression that whereas the sun and moon
are traveling around the earth, the earth remains stationary. This is precisely
what Ibn Kathir later claims, namely that the earth is stationary. Commenting
on Q. 27:61, he states:
<Is not He Who has made the earth as a fixed abode,> meaning, STABLE AND STATIONARY, SO THAT IT
DOES NOT MOVE OR CONVULSE, because if it were to do so, it
would not be a good place for people to live on. But by His grace and mercy, He
has made it smooth and calm, and it is not shaken or moved… (Ibid., p.
341 http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2232&Itemid=83#1;
bold and capital emphasis ours)
In light of the preceding statements, we are left with the
conclusion that Islamic cosmogony is geocentric in nature, a fact confirmed
even further by Ibn Kathir’s exposition of Q. 25:45-46:
<Have you not seen how your Lord spread the shadow> Ibn
‘Abbas, Ibn ‘Umar, Abu Al-‘Aliyah, Abu Malik, Masruq, Mujahid, Sa’id bin
Jubyar, An-Nakha’i, Ad-Dahhak, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, As-Suddi and others said,
“This refers to the period from the beginning of the dawn until the sun rises.”
<If He willed, He could have made it still> meaning,
immobile, never changing…
<but We have made the sun its guide.> means, were it not for the sun rising, it
would not be there, for a thing can only be known in contrast to its opposites. Qatadah
and As-Suddi said, “The
sun is a guide which follows the shade until the shade disappears.”
<Then We withdraw it, towards Ourselves- a gradual
withdrawal.> This refers to the shade.
<gradual> meaning slowly.
As-Suddi said, “A gentle, concealed, withdrawal until there is no shade left on
earth except under a roof or a tree, and the sun is shining on whatever is
above it.”
<a gradual withdrawal.> Ayyub bin Musa
said: “Little by little.” (Ibid., pp. 178-179 http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2391&Itemid=80;
bold emphasis ours)
Furthermore, Ibn Kathir likens the heavens to a dome surface
above the earth. Commenting on Q. 21:32, he writes:
<With Hands We constructed the heaven. Verily, We are able to
extend the vastness of space thereof.> [51:47]
<By the heaven and Him Who built it.> [91:5]
The building and making described here refers to the raising of the dome,
as when the Messenger of Allah said…
<Islam is built on five.> i.e.,
five pillars, which can only refer to a tent as familiar among Arabs. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir,
Volume 6, p. 443 http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2645&Itemid=76;
bold emphasis ours)
The following Quranic verse also points to the sky as an actual
physical dome covering the earth:
Seest thou not that Allah has made subject to you (men) all that
is on the earth, and the ships that sail through the sea by His Command? He withholds the sky from failing
on the earth except by His leave: for Allah is Most Kind
and Most Merciful to man. S. 22:65
Ibn Kathir comments:
<He withholds the heaven from falling on earth except by
leave.> If He willed, He
could give the sky permission to fall on the earth, and whoever is in it would
killed, but by His kindness, mercy, power, He withholds the heaven from
falling on earth, except
by His leave…” (Ibid., p. 611 http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2490&Itemid=77; bold
emphasis ours)
Two conclusions can be drawn from these statements. First, the
thing is solid, otherwise it couldn’t kill anyone when falling down, or, if it
was not material, it couldn’t fall in the first place. Furthermore, the only
way for the heavens to cover the earth like a dome and for Allah to prevent
them from crashing upon the earth is if in fact the earth is flat!
Now someone might argue that the Quran is using phenomenological
language here, ordinary speech that is not meant to convey scientific fact. For
instance, even today we find meteorologists using the phrases “sunrise” and
“sunset” without anyone finding fault with it. Therefore, the Quran is speaking
from the earth’s vantage-point, that from our perspective on earth the sun
seems to be rising and setting.
The only problem with this assertion is that it completely
ignores the preceding commentaries that posit a stationary earth with the sun,
moon and stars all orbiting around it. Hence, from the early Islamic
perspective neither Muhammad nor his companions were understood to be using
phenomenological language. Rather, they were seen by those closest to them to
be speaking quite literally.
In light of all this, we would like to ask the following
questions. Seeing that both Ibn Kathir and Tabari cite Islamic traditions from
Muhammad and others such as Ibn `Abbas in relation to the orbit of the sun,
moon and stars how can one possibly accept Muhammad as a prophet in light of
his comments that are brimming with scientific errors? Does the sun and moon
travel together on a similar course? Was the moon actually a sun before God
stripped it of its luminosity? Does the moon have light of its own? Is there
really an ocean in space where the sun, moon and stars travel within? Why is
there no mentioning the fact that the earth is actually orbiting around the
sun? Why does Ibn Kathir claim that the earth is not traveling at all but is
rather stationary? All these factors make it hard for any thinking individual
to take seriously the Muslim claim that the Quran is a scientific miracle or
that Muhammad was actually God’s prophet seriously.
The following is from Qisas
al-Anbiya-Tales of the Prophets:
“Wahb said: Then God
created the sun and the moon. The sun, He created from the light of the
Throne, and the
moon He created from the light of His veil.
Kaab used to say that on the Day of Resurrection the sun and the
moon will be led like bulls and hurled into Hell. When Ibn Abbas heard this, he
grew angry and said, ‘Kaab has lied. God praised the sun and the moon,
saying, He likewise
compelleth the sun and the moon, which diligently perform their courses, to
serve you (14:33). How then can they be cast into Hell?’
Wahb ibn Munabbih said: God entrusted the sun and the moon to
angels who send them out for a while and draw them back for a while, as He hath
said: God causeth
the night to succeed the day, and he causeth the day to succeed the night (22:61).
Therefore, what is subtracted from one period is added to the other.
The people of the Torah say that God began to create on a Sunday
and finished on a Saturday, whereupon He sat on the Throne; therefore, they
have adopted that day as a holiday.
Ibn Abbas said: The beginning was on a Saturday and the end on
Friday. God rested on Friday, so for that reason we have made it a holiday.
The Prophet said that Friday is the mistress of the day of the
week and is greater in God’s view than Id
al-Fitra and Yawm
al-Adha. Friday has five significances: on that day Adam was
created, the spirit was breathed into him, he was married on that day, and on
that day He took him unto Himself. Also on that day is a time during which
God’s servants ask their Lord for nothing He does not grant (a variant report
adds: …so long as it is not a thing forbidden).
And on that day will Doomsday commence.” (Ibid., pp. 15-16; bold
emphasis ours)
This story also confirms that the moon has its own light. In
fact, this tradition presumes a young earth along with the fact that the sun
and moon were created only after the earth and its vegetation. (Cf., pp. 8-15)
Compare this with the following Islamic traditions:
Abu Huraira reported that Allah’s Messenger took hold of my
hands and said: Allah the Exalted and Glorious, created the clay on Saturday
and He created the mountains on Sunday and He created the trees on Monday and He created the
things entailing labour on Tuesday and created light on Wednesday and
He caused animals to spread on Thursday and created Adam after ‘Asr on Friday;
the last creation at the last hour of the hours of Friday, i.e. Between
afternoon and night. (Sahih
Muslim, Chapter MCLV, The beginning of creation and the creation of
Adam, Hadith No. 6707 https://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=039&translator=2&start=0&number=6707;
bold emphasis ours)
Muhammad states that vegetation preceded the formation of light,
i.e. the sun. It must be emphasized that Sahih Muslim is considered the second
most reliable source of hadith collections. Dr. Naik is a Sunni Muslim.
Therefore, as a Sunni Muslim we presume he accepts the authority of Sahih
Muslim seeing it is considered the second most reliable collection of
traditions.
Some Muslims have tried to claim that this tradition is weakly
attested. For instance, M.S.M. Saifullah lists it as a malul hadith and
notes:
Ma’lul or Mu’allal
Ibn al-Salah says, “A Ma’lul
(defective) hadîth is
one which appears to be sound, but thorough research reveals a disparaging
factor.” Such factors can be:
1. declaring a hadîth
Musnadwhen it is in fact Mursal,
or Marfuwhen
it is in fact Mauquf;
2. showing a reporter to narrate from his shaikh when in fact he
did not meet the latter; or attributing a hadîth to one Companion when it in
fact comes through another.61
Ibn al-Madinî (d. 324) says that such a defect can only be
revealed if all the isnads of a particular hadîth are collated. In his
book al-‘Ilal,
he gives thirty-four Successors and the names of those Companions from whom
each of them heard ahadîth directly.
For example, he says that al-Hasan al-Basri (d. 110, aged 88) did not see Alî
(d. 40), although he adds that there is a slight possibility that he may have
seen him during his childhood in Madinah.62 Such information is very important,
since for example, many Sufi traditions go back to al-Hasan al-Basri, who is
claimed to report directly from Alî.
Being a very delicate branch of Mustalah al-Hadîth, only a few
well-known traditionists such as Ibn al-Madini (d. 234), Ibn Abî Hatim al-Razi
(d. 327), al-Khallal (d. 311) and al-Daraqutni (d. 385), have compiled books
about it. Ibn Abî Hatim, in his Kitab
al-‘Ilal, has given 2840 examples of Malul ahadîthabout a
range of topics.
An example of a Malul
hadîth is one transmitted by Muslim on the authority of Abû
Hurairah, who reports the Prophet as saying,
“Allah created the land on Saturday; He created the mountains on
Sunday; He created the trees on Monday; He created the things entailing labour
on Tuesday; He created the light (or fish) on Wednesday; He scattered the
beasts in it (the earth) on Thursday; and He created Adam after the afternoon
of Friday, the last creation at the last hour of the hours of Friday, between
the afternoon and night.”63
Regarding it, Ibn Taimiyyah says,
“Men more knowledgeable than Muslim, such as al-Bukhârî and
Yahya b. Ma’in, have criticised it. Al-Bukhârî said, ‘This saying is not that
of the Prophet, but one of Kab al-Ahbar’.”64 (Islamic Awareness, An
Introduction To The Science Of Hadith The Classification Of Hadith: According
To A Hidden Defect Found In The Isnad Or Text Of A Hadith https://www.islamic-awareness.org/hadith/ulum/asb6)
When we look at Saifullah’s footnote # 64 we discover that some
Muslims believed that this tradition was actually sound:
64. Ibn Taimiyyah, Majmu’ Fatawa (37 vols., ed. Abd al-Rahmân b.
Qasim & his son Muhammad, Riyad, 1398), 18:18f. Ibn Taimiyyah mentions that Imâm
Muslim’s authentication of this hadîth is supported by Abû Bakr al-Anbari &
Ibn al- Jauzi,whereas al-Baihaqi supports those who disparaged
it. Al-Albani says that it was Ibn al-Madini who criticised it, whereas Ibn Ma’in did not (the
latter was known to be very strict, both of them were shaikhs of al-Bukhârî).He
further says that the hadîth is Sahih, and does not contradict the
Qur’ân, contrary to the probable view of the scholars who criticised the hadîth, since what is mentioned in the
Qur’ân is the creation of the heavens and the earth in six days, each of which
may be like a thousand years, whereas the hadîth refers to the creation of
the earth only, in days which are shorter than those referred to in the
Qur’ân (Silsilah
al-A hadîth as-Sahihah, no. 1833). (Ibid., Appendix &
Endnotes https://www.islamic-awareness.org/hadith/ulum/aape;
bold emphasis ours)
Hence, we find Muslims disputing amongst themselves over which
hadiths are sound and which are not. Yet, the fact remains that Sahih Muslim is
not the only Islamic source indicating that both Muhammad and his Companions
believed in a young earth and that the sun was created after vegetation.
Historians such as at-Tabari also record this fact. The following traditions
are taken entirely from
The History of al-Tabari, Volume 1- General Introduction and from the Creation
to the Flood (trans. Franz Rosenthal, State University of New
York Press, Albany 1989), pp. 187-193. Again, all bold and/or capital emphasis
is mine:
“We have stated before that time is but hours of night and day
and that the hours are but traversal by the sun and the moon of the degrees of
the sphere. Now then, this being so, there is (also) a sound tradition from the
Messenger of God told us by Hannad b. al-Sari, who also said that he read all
of the hadith (to Abu Bakr)- Abu Bakr b. ‘Ayyash- Abu Sa’d al-Baqqal-
‘Ikrimah- Ibn
Abbas: The Jews came to the Prophet and asked him about
the creation of the heavens and the earth. He said: God created the earth on Sunday
and Monday. He created the mountains and the uses they possess on Tuesday. On
Wednesday, He created trees, water, cities and the cultivated barren land.
These are four (days). He continued (citing the Qur’an): ‘Say: Do you really
not believe in the One Who created the earth in two days, and set up others
like Him? That is the Lord of the worlds. He made it firmly anchored
(mountains) above it and blessed it and decreed that it contain the amount of
food it provides, (all) in four days, equally for those asking’- for those who
ask. On Thursday, He created heaven. On Friday, He created the stars, the sun,
the moon, and the angels, until three hours remained. In the
first of these three hours He created the terms (of human life), who would live
and who would die. In the second, He cast harm upon everything that is useful
for mankind. And in the third, (He created) Adam and had him dwell in Paradise.
He commanded Iblis to prostrate himself before Adam, and He drove Adam out of
Paradise at the end of the hour. When the Jews asked: What then, Muhammad? He
said: ‘Then He sat straight upon the Throne.’ The Jews said: You are right, if
you had finished, they said, with: Then He rested. Whereupon the Prophet got
very angry, and it was revealed: ‘We have created the heavens and the earth and
what is between them in six days, and fatigue did not touch Us. Thus be patient
with what you say.'”
According to this tradition from Ibn Abbas, Muhammad believed
the earth and everything within it was created on the first four days whereas
the heavens and the constellations were created afterwards on Thursday and
Friday. Hence, Muhammad believed that vegetation was created nearly two days
before the sun was even formed.
“According to al-Muthanna- al-Hajjaj- Hammad- ‘Ata’ b. al-Sa’ib-
‘Ikrimah: The Jews asked the Prophet: What about Sunday? The Messenger of God replied: On
it, God created the earth and spread it out. They asked about
Monday, and he replied: On it, He created Adam. They asked about Tuesday, and he
replied: On it, He created the mountains, water, and so on. They asked about
Wednesday, and he replied: Food. They asked about Thursday, and he replied: He
created the heavens. They asked about Friday, and he replied: God created night
and day. Then, when they asked about Saturday and mentioned
God’s rest(ing on it), he exclaimed: God be praised! God then revealed: ‘We
have created the heavens and the earth and what is between them in six days,
and fatigue did not touch Us.'”
Once again we have “food”, i.e. vegetation, appearing on
Wednesday with the sun being created on Friday. Al-Tabari then comments:
“The two reports transmitted by us from the Messenger of God
have made it clear that the sun and the moon were created after God had created
many things of His creation. That is because the hadith of Ibn Abbas on the
authority of the Messenger of God indicates that God created the sun and the
moon on Friday. If this is so, earth and heaven and what was in them, except
the angels and Adam, had been created before God created the sun and the
moon. All this
(thus) existed while there was no light and no day, since night
and day are but nouns designating hours known through the traversal by the sun
and the moon of the course of the sphere. Now, if it is correct that the earth and the heaven and what
was between them, except what we have mentioned, were in existence when there was
no sun and no moon, the conclusion is that all existed when there was no night
or day. The same (conclusion results from) the following hadith
of Abu Hurayrah reported on the authority of the Messenger of God: God created light on Wednesday –
meaning by ‘light’ the sun, if God wills.”
Tabari is honest enough to state that both the Quran and
Muhammad’s interpretation of it clearly place the sun after the earth and its
nourishment had already been made.
IHS
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